Vehicle destination-sign.



( No. 768,192. v PATENTED AUG. 23, 1904.

G. W. PEIRGE. I

VEHICLE DESTINATION SIGN. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 3, 1903.

N0 MODEL.

5. I SOUN BEACH INVENTOR I. J/IIIW,

' UNITED STATES Patented August 23, 1904.

PATENT OFFICE.

VEHICLE DESTINATION-SIGN.

'sPEcIFIcATIoN forming. part of Letters PatentNo. 768,192, dated August23, 1904.

Application filed November 3, 1903. 'Serial No.=l'79,'67'7. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, GEORGE W. PnIRon, a citizen of the-UnitedStates,resid-ing at Stamford, "county of'Fairfield, and State ofConnecticut,

have made anew and useful Invention in Vehicle Destination-Signs, ofwhich the following isa specification.

My invention is directed particularly to improvements indestination-signs such as are ordinarily used in connection withstreet-rail- 'way cars, omnibuses, or similar public conveyances, whichsigns are of an interchangeable nature for the purpose of conveylng tothe public information as to the destination of the vehicle.

My invention has for its objects, first, to

provide detachable or interchangable signs which may be used eitherinday-time or at night and located wholly within the vehicle,

where they are protected from the weather; second, to provide such asign for night use, "the same being of a transparent nature withopaque-letters, or vice versa, designed to be used'in connection withthe ordinary source of lllummatlon for the interior of the vehicle;

third,-to provide a sign-of the nature indicated which shallbe cheap,simple, andefiicient'and readily applicable to any existing publicconveyance having side or end windows, the nature of the invention beingsuch thatit may readily be applied to such vehicles in the simplestpossible manner; fourth, to provide signs of this nature a large numberof which may be easily carried in the pocket of the motorman orconductor and be adapted for use in connection either with side orfrontwindows of the vehicle.

My invention will be fully understood byreferring to the followingspecification and the accompanying drawings, in which Figure l'represents a front elevational-view thereof with one sign partlydisplayed in full lines on the left and another in dotted lines on theright, the lower part of the sustainingframe being broken away forillustrating the interior mechanism. Fig. 2 is a plan view as seenlooking at Fig. I from the top toward the bottom of the drawings, partsof the frame" and pivoted locking-lever being broken away for thepurpose ofillustrating the gearing and interior operative. portions ofthe entire hollow sign-holding tube and itsoperatingpinion, the meansofsecuring the sign within the tube being also illustrated. Fig. 5'is anend ele'vational view'of the upper'portion of 'a street-car, showing oneof my novel signs fully'exposed. Fig-6 is adetail vertical sectionalview taken through the top of Fig. 1,

showing parts of the apparatus'inelevation.v

Referring now to the drawings in detail, in

- all of which like numerals represent like parts, '1 represents-theframe of the sign supporting and operating device, the same beingconstructed, preferably, of strong sheet metal, such as brass, and ofsuch width and depth as to readily adapt it to be secured "by screws orin any preferred manner between'the ven-' tilator-windows of astreet-car or at either side ofthe front or rear top windows thereof andpreferably onthe inside of the car.

' 2-represents agear-wheel secured to a shaft journaled in the base ofthe frame, the'same shaft carrying also a bevel-pinion3, meshing with avertically-disposed bevel gear-wheel 4,

the shaft of which gear-wheel is operatively connected to one end of astrong spiral drivingspring 5, the other end of said sprlng beingsecured directlyv to the frame andthe arrangement of both the gear-wheeland pinion 3 such that when the spring is put under tension. there is astrong tendency to rotate the horizontally-disposed gear-WheelQ.

6 is a hollow sign-supporting tube slitted on one side for the receptionof asupportingrod 8'for a flexible sign 9,made, preferably, oftransparent material, such as oil-silk or the like, having painteduponone surface thereof in black or equivalent opaque letters the nameof the street or destination it is desired to indicate to the public,said sign being stitched or otherwise secured to the rod- 8 .and thearrangement such that it may be slipped into the-hollow tube 6 in themanner shown in Fig. 4 of the drawings.

7 is a pinion secured to the lower end'of the 1 hollow tube 6.

i 10, Fig.1, is a catch secured to a metallic strip of the same lengthas the width of thesign, said catch being provided with an opening, asshown, for the purpose of securing it to a hook or equivalent retainingcatch or device located at the distant side of the carwindow.

Referring now to Figs. 1 and 3, 11 is a sliding bar provided at itsopposite ends with journal-bearings 12 12 for the lower end of thehollow sign-supporting tube 6, said bar being adapted to movelongitudinally back and forth on the under surface of the frame 1 andconnected by a pivot-pin to one end of an operating-bar 13, curveddownward at its center and provided with a pivot opening or hole forreceiving a pivot-pin 14:, secured directly to the bottom of theframe 1. The outer end of the operating-bar 13 is slotted at 15, so asto receive an operating-pin 19, carried by a handle 16, pivoted at 18 tothe bottom of the frame and provided with an operating-knob 17, thearrangement being such that when the operating-handle is turned to itsextreme position through one hundred and eighty degrees by means of theknob 17 the journal-bearings 12 at the opposite ends of the sliding bar11 will assume definite relations to the horizontally-disposedgear-wheel 2 and in such manner as to bring the pinion 7 into and out ofoperative relation therewith, dependent upon which sign-holding tube 6is in position. 21 is a locking-lever pivoted at its center 22 in theupper end of the frame and provided with an operating-knob 23, thefunction of said lever being to prevent the hollow tube 6 from movingupward after it is located in position in the proper one of thejournal-bearings 26. (See Fig. 6.)

The operation is as follows: When it is desired to change adestination-sign, the motorman or conductor simply inserts thecarrying-rod 8 of the sign 9 in the hollow slotted tube 6 in the mannershown in Fig. a and then snugly rolls the sign thereof in the properdirection. The upper end of the tube is then inserted through one of thejournalbearings 26 in the upper end of the frame upon the proper side,dependent upon the position of the supporting-frame with relation to thewindow. The lower end of the tube is then forced down into thecorresponding journalbearing 12 in the sliding bar 11 until the pinion 7rests upon the upper face of the bottom of the frame, (see Fig. 1,) andthe lockinglever 21 is then rotated to the central position above theend of the tube through the agency of the knob 23. The handle 16 is thenrotated through an arc of one hundred and eighty degrees through theagency of the knob 17, thereby forcing the teeth of the pinion 7 intooperative relation with the gearwheel 2. The catch 10 is then taken holdof and the sign 9 drawn out to its extreme limit until it is fullyexposed, said action rotating the main gear-wheel 2 through the agencyof the pinion 7 and imparting motion through the bevel-pinion 3 to thebevel gear-wheel 4', thus putting the strongspiral spring 5 underadditional tension, so that the tendency of such spring is to restorethe sign to its normal or closed position. The opening in the catch 10is then placed over a corresponding pin or lug at the opposite side ofthe window, and the sign is fully exposed in the manner shown in Fig. 5.

The body of the sign being of transparent material, such as oil-silk,and the lettered portion thereof painted in opaque letters, asindicated, the sign answers for both night and day, owing to the factthat in da 'tiine the letters are plainly seen by the light outside thecar and at night-tin'ie through the agency of the interior illu minating-l i ght passing through the transparent portion thereof. \Vhen it isdesired to substitute another sign for the one in use, it is onlynecessary to release the catch 10 and allow the tension of the spring torewind it upon the hollow tube. (3, after which it can be removed in amanner which will be apparent on inspection ol the drawings and anothersign substituted therefor, or two signs may be in positionsimultaneously-one concealed and the other exposed. Should it berequired to show a sign on the other side in the manner shown in dottedlines, it is only necessary to insert the same in the oppositejournal-bearin gs, locking it, as before,through the agency of thelockinglever 21 and reversing the action of the sliding bar 11 to theextreme limit, as will be apparent on inspection of Fig. 3, it beingobvious that the withdrawal of the sign from left to right in the mannerindicated in Fig. 2 will wind up the spring in the same manner that itwas wound up before, with the understanding, however, that in thisinstance the sign must be so wound upon the hollow tube 6 as to put thespring under tension, as before.

In Fig. 1 there is illustrated in one edge of the bevel gear-wheel 4 anotch 25, and upon the right-hand side of the drawing is shown a pawl 21, the function of which parts is for the purpose of putting apreliminary tension on the spring and limiting the rotation of thedriving parts of the apparatus, so that it will act always the sameunder all conditions of usage.

I do not limit my invention to the especial details of constructionshown in the accompanying drawings and described in the specilicationhereinbefore, as obviously a number of the details thereof might bematerially departed from and still come within the scope of my claimshereinafter made,nor dol limit myself to the use of a flexibletransparent medium with opaque letters, as obviously the body of thesign may be of flexible opaque material and the letters transparent.

I believe it is broadly new with me to dev se adetachable sign-holdingdevice for destination-signs for street-car and similar uses in whichthe holder is of a duplex nature and so arranged as to enable the userto display signsprovided with opaque letters or characters; in

combination with a tube to which the same may be secured and meanscarried by the car for automatically winding the sign around the tubewhen it is desired to remove it.

2. Means for winding up flexible destinationsigns for vehicles,consisting of atrain of gear- Wheels, a main spring and a framesupporting the same; together with a detachable sign-supporting tubeprovided with a pinion and means for locking the pinion in mesh with oneof the gear-wheels.

3. Means for winding up flexible destinationsigns for vehicles,consisting of a train of gear- Wheels, a main spring and a framesupporting the same; together with a sliding bar having journal-bearingsat its opposite ends and a detachable sign-supporting tube provided witha pinion, the arrangement being such that said sign-supporting tube maybe caused to mesh with one of the gear-wheels on opposite sides in suchmanner as to display a sign on either side thereof.

4:. A sign-supporting device for displaying flexible'transparent signsthrough the ventilating-windows of a street-car or analogous vehicle,consisting of a frame adapted to be secured within the vehicle and atrain of gearing supported thereby; in combination with a detachablesign-supporting tube adapted to be operative'ly connected with the trainof gearmg on either side in such manner that'the entire apparatus isadapted for'use generallyin vehicles of the character indicated.

5. A sign-supporting device consistlng of a frame, a train of gearingcarried thereby .op-

eratively connected to a spiral spring; stationary journal-bearings atthe upper end of said frame and movable journal-bearings located at thelower end thereof; together with a signsupporting tube provided with apinion at one end, said sign-supporting tube being adapted to besupported in either one of the stationary journal-bearings and thecorresponding one of the movable journal-bearings; and means for lockingthe movable journal-bearings and the pinion in fixed relation to one ofthe gearwheels and on either side thereof.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification in thepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

GEORGE W. PEIROE. I

